Juvenile psoriatic arthritis patients at Tripoli Children's Hospital

Juvenile psoriatic arthritis (JPsA) is a relatively rare condition in childhood, as it represents about 5.0% of the whole Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). There are fewer reports describing the characteristics and outcome of patients with JPsA. The purpose of this study is to determine characteristic features, treatment, and patients' outcomes of JPsA among Libyan children and to compare the findings with other populations worldwide. Medical records of all the patients who met the Vancouver criteria (definite or probable) or ILAR criteria for JPsA, and who were followed up at the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic in Tripoli Children's Hospital between 2001 and 2020, were retrospectively reviewed, and data were analyzed. The study included a total of 12 cases of JPsA over the study period; all were met Vancouver criteria for juvenile PsA: 42.0% not fulfill ILAR criteria. JPsA represents 4.8% of total JIA cases with a male-to-female ratio of 1: 1, and a mean age of 10.2±6.5 years. The mean age of disease onset was 5.8±5.3 years. Polyarticular pattern was the predominant (58.3%), ANA and HLAB27 were positive among 33.3% and 12.5% of the studied cases, psoriasis in 33.3% of cases, Uveitis in 30.0%, uveitis complications were occurred in one patient. Biologic drugs were used in 25.0% of the patients. The study concludes that the characteristics of JPsA in Libyan children are different from those of other countries regarding a higher frequency of uveitis, equal sex-related distribution, and absence of nail changes. This difference may be attributed to different classification criteria used.